Table 4.16
SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE IN ENGLAND AGAINST
KEY PATIENT'S CHARTER STANDARDS 1997-98
| National Average |
| | |
| National Charter Standards | QTR 1
| QTR 2 | QTR 3
| QTR 4 |
Waiting in outpatients clinics
(percent seen within 30 minutes)
| Monitored in Q4 for all HAs and in Q1 to Q3 by exception
| | | |
| 90 | |
| | |
Cancellations of operations
(number not admitted within
one month of cancellation)
| 1,541 | 1,492 | 1,891
| 2,326 |
Emergency admission through A&E
(percent admitted within two hours)
| 82 | 84 | 84
| 83 |
Community nurse
(percent visits carried out
within a two-hour timeband)
| 97 | 97 | 97
| 97 |
Medical records transfer
(percent within standards):
—urgent
|
87 |
85
|
87 |
90
|
| —routine | 72
| 77 | 78 | 80
|
| | |
| |
Footnote:
1. Figures rounded to the nearest whole per cent.
5. PERSONAL SOCIAL
SERVICES
5.1 Provision through PSS SSAs for year ahead
Can the Department set out the Standard Spending Assessments
(SSAs) for social services in the latest year, by local authority,
and SSA sub-block, both in cash and per capita, and per capita
of relevant population? Can the Department also provide a table
comparing the change in the total PSS SSA between the last two
years for each local authority? Would the Department describe
any changes to the SSA formulae introduced in this year and provide
details of any plans the Department has to review PSS SSAs further?
1. The Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs) for social
services in 1998-99, by local authority, and SSA sub-block, in
cash and per capita of relevant population are shown in tables
5.1.1 and 5.1.2.
2. Table 5.1.3 compares the change in the total PSS SSA
between 1997-98 and 1998-99 for each local authority. The figures
for 1998-99 includes the resources paid in 1997-98 via the Special
Transitional Grant and the Guardian Ad Litem Specific Grant. Provision
for these services are now made through SSAs (see response to
question 5.13).
3. The SSA resources allocation formulae are reviewed
each year, and updated to take account of the latest data. There
were two significant changes made for the 1998-99 PSS allocations:
to the SSA for residential services for the elderly and to the
"other social services" SSA. These changes are described
below.
The SSA for residential services for the elderly
4. The origins of the previous SSA formula pre-dated
the community care reforms. In the light of this major change
in the responsibilities of local authorities the Department decided
to commission the University of Kent to carry out research into
the appropriateness of the previous formula and to make recommendations
on alternative measures. The research involved looking at the
characteristics of a sample of older people not receiving residential
care compared to the characteristics of a sample of older people
entering residential care. The sample survey was done in 1995.
This comparison identified characteristics which were very common
in the second set of people but uncommon in the first set of people.
Statistical techniques were used to establish the relative importance
of each of these characteristics in determining whether a person
is likely to require residential care. A formula was derived which
in effect predicts the likelihood of a person requiring residential
care given the characteristics of that person.
5. As a result of this research the Government decided
to alter the SSA formula. Previously, just four factors influenced
the allocation: the number of older people in the authority, the
number of older people who have a long-term illness, the number
of older people living in rented accommodation, and the number
of older people with preserved rights to higher rates of Income
Support. In the new formula, the last factor was dropped as the
number of preserved rights clients is far less of an influence
several years into the community care reforms. The first three
factors were retained but four further factors were added:
— the number of pensioners living alone;
— the number of older people receiving Income Support;
— the number of pensioners who are living with someone,
but not as a couple;
— the number of older people in receipt of Attendance
Allowance.
The SSA for other social services (that is, services for people
with mental health problems, learning disabilities, physical disability
or sensory impairment)
6. Hitherto, this SSA had involved the use of an index
of poor social conditions. In the 1997 round, DETR Ministers requested
a review of the index (which was used in more than one SSA formula).
On the basis of that review the Government decided to replace
the index of social conditions with two new indices.
7. Explicit principles about which factors might go into
the indices were agreed with the Local Government Association.
A thorough statistical analysis of dozens of deprivation measures
was involved. The statistical methods used to select the best
factors were also shared with the LGA.
8. Some twelve factors are included in the two indices
together. These are set out below. A full and precise description
of each factor is set out in The Local Government Finance Report
(England) 1998-99
| Index 1 | Index 2 |
| Numbers on Income support | Single person households
|
| Numbers on Housing benefit | Residents born outside EC, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
|
| Households in accommodation rented from LAs, new towns or housing associations
| Residents in flats provided by LAs, new towns or housing associations
|
| Numbers unemployed | Overcrowded accommodation
|
| Lone parent families | Population density of area
|
| Limiting long standing illness |
|
| Morbidity | |
| |
Future Plans for PSS SSAs
9. The Department is currently meeting with representatives
of local government to discuss changes to the PSS SSAs for 1999-2000.
Three priority areas have been identified. First, to consider
further the work carried out in 1996 by the University of York
which suggested an alternative formulae for allocating the resources
available for children's services. Second, to consider the use
of the Disability Living Allowance benefit in determining allocations
for residential care for the elderly. Third, to examine whether
the costs of some social services are linked to sparsity of population.
10. In the consultation paper "Improving local
financial accountability", issued in March 1998, the
Government invited views on the merits of a system which would
not involve reviewing SSAs every year. Instead, SSAs would be
"frozen for a period of, say, three years. The Government's
response to views expressed in this consultation exercise should
be known in the late summer. This will fundamentally affect plans
to develop PSS SSAs for 2000-01 and beyond.
| 
